Improvement in heating and puddling gas-furnaces



W. L. MONAIR.

Heating and Puddling GrabsJufimce.

Patented Dec. 25, i

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N. PETERS. PHOTO-IJTHOGRAFHEI'..' WASHINGTON. D. O.

JNV E NT UR:

- y rzm m/ZM UNITED STATESPATENT OEEIeE.

WILLIAM L. MGNAIR, 0E ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN HEATING A D PUDDLING GAS-FURNACES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 198,65 3, datedDecember 25,1877; application filed November 3, 1877. l A

To all whom it may concern 7 Be it known that I, WM. L. MGNAIR, ofAllegheny city, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in. Gas Heating andPuddling Furnaces; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable othersskilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use it, refer encebeing had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of thisspecification.

My invention relates to an improvement in heating and puddlinggas-furnaces; and it consists in placing a shelf or hearth inside of thefire-box for the reception of the fuel when it is first fed into thefire-box, and which hearthis heated from underneath by the wasteproducts of. combustion, so as to decompose the coaland generate gas andcarbonic oxide, whereby the whole of the coal is used as fuel, and agreater amount of heat obtained from a'smaller or the same quantity offuel, and a great saving eifected.

My invention further consists in the arran gement and combination ofparts that will be more fully describedh'ereinafter.

The accompanying drawings represent my invention.

a represents the fire-box; b, the bridge, and o the reducing-chamber,arranged and constructed in the usual manner. In the front end of thefire-box, above and back of the bars, is the hearth d, upon which thecoal is thrown, so as to be heated and convertedinto gasor carbonicoxide before it is fed forward upon the grate. Where the coal containsbut a small portion of gas, and it is desired to convert a largerportion of it into carbonic oxide, suitable air-holes are made throughthe front or side of the 'fire-box above the hearth, so as to admit anyquantity of air that may be desired. The hearth being heated fromunderneath by the waste products of combustion, as shown, the fuel isdecomposed, so as to throw off its volatile matter, and then, as thesolid carbon that is left behind is fed forward upon the grate, it isconverted into carbonic oxid. As the fuel is consumed and the carbonicoxide rises up over the bridge, it receives another equivalent of air,and is then converted I into flame in the converting-chamber, where theperfect combustion takes place. One great advantage in thus decomposingthe fuel is, that all of the sulphur in the coal is driven off in agaseous state, and this sulphurous acid, mingling with the air over thebridge, is at once driven off before it can attack the iron in thechamber ,0. I By thus protecting the iron from the action of thesulphur, a finerand better grade of iron is produced in every way, bothin tensile strength and fiber, and for making steel and fine sheet-iron.

The hearth of the chamber 0 may be made to conform to the use to whichthe chamberis applied. In the back part of this chamber is a hearth, 6,upon which a charge of iron may pared to be melted in the chamber assoon as the charge contained therein is drawn ofi.

' The waste products of combustion pass down the. flue g horizontallyforward through the flue h on the way to the stack 1, where they heatthe under side of the shelf 01.

In the stack above the level of the fire-box is formed the horizontaldrying-chamber i, in which wet or green wood is placed to be dried,

and thus prepared for the fire-box. By means of this chambera constantsupplyof dry Wood is kept on hand, and by thus drying the wood it burnsbetter, gives afiercer heat, and reduces the iron sooner. Where thefiner grades of irons are to be made, wood will be used in the fire-boxaltogether in preference to coal; but either coal or wood may be used,as preferred. I

Under the reducin g-chamber o is formed the air-chamber j, whichreceives-its. air from outside. This air keeps the bottom of the fireboxcool, and passes off down through the pipes or flues a and 0. Justbeneath this chamber is a much shallower one, 4, that extends nearly thewhole length of the fire-box, and which is heated from below by theproducts of combustion as they pass through the r flue h. The air.passes from the chamber j down through the pipe or flue ninto thechamher 1", where it is heated, and then from this chamber it passesthrough the hole s up over the ash-guard t to the fire in the fire-box.Beside the fiue n, the chamber 1 is supplied with airthrough the twoflues w, which pass through the large flue h, so as to thoroughly heatthe air before it enters the chamber 1". The air that passes through thefines 0 is also heated in its passage through the flue h up in front ofthe stack l, and through the fire-box. These lines 0 reach up over theperforated top of the fire-box, wherethey discharge all of theheated airthat has passed through them. This top V has a large number of holesthrough it, so that the heated air will be broken up and reduced toparticles, instead of descending in volumes upon the products ofcombustion below. By thus breaking up the air into particles it minglesfreely withthe products of com bustion, and amore perfect andcompletecombustion is thus caused to take place in the reducing-chamber. Wherethe air is not broken up it descends in volumes, and the perfectandcomplete mingling that is necessary with the products of combustion doesnot take place. All of the fines are provided with dampers at anydesired location, so that the flow of air through them can be regulatedat will.

In working the fire-box when an oxidizing v or reducing flame is needed,the air is allowed to pass through the flues o to mingle with theproducts of combustion, and thereby cause an excess of oxygen in thereducing-chamber.

When it gis desired to use a deoxidizingflame, all air .is shut off fromthe flues o, and then there will be an excess of carbon in the productsof combustion in the reducing-chamber, and the iron will be carbonizedthereby. Should there be more heat passing off than is necessary tocreate an ascending current inthe stack, I place another chamber orgenerator, w, in the stack, containing wrought-iron turnings or scrap.After these scraps or turnings have I steam isdecomposed.

become red hot I turn on a steam-jet, which The hydrogen passes oil intothe combustion-chamber through the small holes 3, and the oxygen,uniting with thejron, forms oxide of iron. This oxide of iron can beused as fix for the fire-box, or mixed with themelted iron. The oxygen,being again liberated, combines with the carbon in the iron, and hastensthe operation of boiling.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- I 1. The combination of theair-chamber j, located under the reducing-chamber, with the flue n andchamber 1" for supplying heated air to the grate, and the fluevo forsupplying air to the combustion-chamber, substantially as described.

2. The combination of the chamber j, located under the reducing-chamber,the chamber 1', placed between the chamber j and flue h, the flue n,hole 8, and wall t, substantiallyas specified.

3. In combination with the perforatedtop V, placed above the fire-box a,the hot-air chamber j, and flue o, substantially, as set forth.

4. In combination with aheatin g or puddlin g furnace, the hearth o7,placed on a line with the waste products of combustion, and upon whichthe fuel is first thrown, so as to beheated from underneath bythe saidproducts as they escape up the stack, substantially as shown anddescribed.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this1st day of November, 1877.

- WM. L. MGNAIR.

Witnesses:

J. J. MoOoRMroK, W. B. OoNN'oLLY.

